Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Ukraine: Stop the proceedings against Yurii Sheliazhenko

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(18.09.2023) Yurii Sheliazhenko, conscientious objector, pacifist, human rights defender and the Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, has been placed under partial house arrest in Kyiv on 15th August, being accused of ‘justifying the Russian aggression’.

Conference: Conscientious Objection in Asia, 18th-20th November, Seoul, South Korea

(07.09.2023) We are pleased to announce the conference “Conscientious Objection in Asia”, which will be held on 18th to 20th November in Seoul, South Korea. The event will gather conscientious objectors (COs) and campaigners of conscientious objection (CO) from across Asia to discuss the problems COs are facing today and how to counter these problems. The event is organised by World Without War in cooperation with Connection e.V. and War Resisters’ International.

Protection and asylum for human rights defender Olga Karach

Urgent Action

(25.08.2023) Following the denial of political asylum by the Lithuanian authorities for the Belarusian peacebuilder and human rights defender Olga Karach (Volha Karach), the international campaign #protection4olga has just been launched to demand protection and asylum for the director of the organisation ‘Our House‘. She has been fighting for human rights in Belarus for years, including the right to conscientious objection to military service, and is therefore persecuted and faces capital punishment in her country of origin, where she has been labelled a ‘terrorist’ by the regime.

Ukraine: Release peace activist Yurii Sheliazhenko and drop all charges against him

(17.08.2023) The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), War Resisters’ International (WRI), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and Connection e.V. (Germany) strongly condemn the fact that Yurii Sheliazhenko, a well-known conscientious objector, pacifist, human rights defender and lawyer, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, has been placed under partial house arrest by the Solomyanskyi District Court of Kyiv on 15 August 2023.